


their own fault for being timeless

by carrieevew



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Art School, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Artist Clarke Griffin, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:08:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26604217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carrieevew/pseuds/carrieevew
Summary: for theThe t100 Writers for BLM project:as part of an installation you’re doing you stand in the main hall dressed in white from head to toe with a sign inviting people to draw on you, so i leave my number on your back and you actually call
Relationships: Octavia Blake/Clarke Griffin
Comments: 16
Kudos: 47
Collections: The t100 Writers for BLM Initiative





	their own fault for being timeless

**Author's Note:**

> written for [asexualsartemis](https://asexualsartemis.tumblr.com/)
> 
> title from _[All the Rowboats](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CZ8ossU4pc)_ by Regina Spektor.
> 
> enjoy!

“Remind me again, why we’re doing this?” Jasper asked, pulling the long white robe over his head. It dwarfed him, falling all the way to the ground, with sleeves reaching his fingertips. He huffed, waving his arms around. “I look ridiculous.”

“You’re getting paid,” Octavia reminded him. “And I’m doing Lincoln a favour.”

She put her own robe one and pulled her hair into a bun on the top of her head. The hem of her gown was sweeping the floor, too, but she remembered that they will all be standing on stools and just shrugged.

When Lincoln asked her if she wanted to help and if she knew some people who’d want to pose for his new art installation, she said yes before he even explained that he needed people to stand in the main hall and serve as live canvases, for people to paint on. Octavia always liked his crazy projects and even though they weren’t together anymore, she still loved to be a part of his world.

“I can’t believe you’re still friends with your ex like that,” Jasper mused. “My one and only high school girlfriend dumped me and told me never to talk to her again.”

“That’s because you ditched her half-way through prom to go and get high behind the bleachers, and she had to pay for a cab to get the both of you home,” Monty reminded him, fixing his hair and making sure the gown was straight.

“You and Harper were there, too, dude,” Jasper pouted.

Monty levelled him with a look. “Exactly, I took my date with me, so she still likes me.”

Octavia smiled, listening to their banter. When they all graduated from high school, she doubted that they could all remain friends, even though they all landed in the same local college. She worried that once they all figured out what they wanted to do with their lives, they’d all go their separate ways. Luckily, two years into college and they were still as close as ever. So much so that she was able to convince the two of them to join her in this project.

Lincoln appeared in the doorway, also dressed in white. Of the four of them, he was the only one who actually looked good in his gown but then, he always looked good.

“Come on, guys, we need to set up,” he called them with a short wave of his hand. Octavia, Jasper and Monty picked their skirts up and followed Lincoln into the main hall.

***

It was almost noon and the corridors were empty still, waiting for the students to finish their classes. They all walked to their stools and took their places behind a table full of art supplies and a sign that said “ _paint on me_ ” in big, bold letters.

Before long, the noises of students leaving their classrooms could be heard and the main hall filled with people. A few of them eyed the group with uncertainty but most just looked either excited or completely uninterested. Arkadia’s art department was big and prolific enough that those sort of performances were almost a part of the landscape and those who didn’t care simply learnt how to live with this.

Most, however, seemed to like the idea. A small crowd gathered around the table, asking Lincoln all kinds of questions about the idea behind the project, the execution and so on. Octavia smirked and cocked an eyebrow at the man—he seemed completely oblivious how many of the girls asked that same questions, only wanting an excuse to talk to him. He answered them all patiently and after a few moments, most of them left, when they realised he wasn’t responding to their advances. Part of it was just him being polite and not turning anyone down harshly but mainly, he was probably too focused on the installation to even notice the more discreet ones. He could get like that, Octavia knew.

It was a while before anyone actually picked up a brush and painted anything but finally, one of Jasper’s friends painted a big ganja leaf on his chest and it seemed to have opened the floodgates. Soon, the leaf was adorned with a graduation cap and its own little joint, until it was more or less painted over by all kinds of scribbles and blobs.

Monty’s girlfriend Harper painted a big red heart, taking up almost the whole of his front and stood to the side, giving a stink eye to everyone who tried to desecrate it. And seeing how she was the school’s unofficial MMA champion, no-one dared to cross her.

Lincoln’s gown was, unsurprisingly, covered with hearts and kisses as well. Some of the girls actually found the courage to paint those on him and for a while, he looked like a Valentine’s Day commercial.

Octavia’s gown looked most conservative, compared to others. She was covered in colourful swirls, shapes and flowers. Someone even replicated her shoulder tattoo, where it was visible through the material. It all actually looked pretty cool and she made a mental note to ask Lincoln to forward her all the pictures he’d take after this was over.

A couple of hours into the performance, Octavia noticed the crowd changing. The novelty wore off a little and what remained were the people who actually cared about painting something more complicated than a tiny dick on Jasper’s stomach (Murphy).

Those people talked to Lincoln about the material he’d chosen, that paints, the colours and what he was going to do with the gowns afterwards. His art class friends, then.

At some point, Octavia noticed a blonde girl staring at her with an appraising look. For a split second, Octavia wasn’t sure if she should be flattered or offended for being checked out like that, before she remembered she was literally a piece of art now, meant to be looked at. And besides, the girls attention shifted to Jasper then, and later Monty. She looked them over with the same focus and now, Octavia felt a small pang of—jealousy? Disappointment? She wasn’t sure.

“Clarke!” she heard Lincoln call out and when the blonde turned to him with a smile, Octavia shook herself out of her stupor. She blinked quickly and notices the girl—Clarke—taking of her jacket and pulling the sleeves of her Henley up and over her elbows. She waved at both Monty and Jasper who seemed to know her as well.

“Hey, Lincoln,” Clarke gritted him and came ever to look at his gown. “Popular as always,” she noticed, pointing out a handful of hearts. The man smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry I couldn’t come sooner, professor Sydney extended the lecture again and I had to chase after her to ask about our assignments,” Clarke explained. Something rang in Octavia’s head at that, like she was supposed to know Clarke already but that was impossible. She would never have forgotten someone like her.

Besides, professor Sydney taught ancient languages, and that wasn’t her thing, that was—

“Hey, do you know my brother?” she fired suddenly and blushed, when Clarke and Lincoln both looked at her surprised. Clarke had a confused look on her face and was opening her mouth but Octavia was quicker. She shook her head. “Sorry, you don’t know me, you obviously don’t know who my brother is. I’m Octavia. Blake. My brother—“

“Bellamy!” Clarke interjected with a wide smile. Octavia’s stomach sunk. Great, if she was one of his brother’s conquests, she might as well shoot herself. There was no way she was hitting on anyone who slept with her brother. But then, Clarke’s smile turned into a cocky smirk. “Course I know your brother, we’ve been arguing for three years now.”

“Oh, damn,” Octavia laughed. “So, _you’re_ Princess Griffin?” Clarke burst up laughing at that and the sound sent something warm down Octavia’s smile.

“Is that what he’s calling me? Well, I suppose it could’ve been worse.”

Clarke came up to the supplies table then and started to sort through the brushes.

“Our back are still relatively unscathed,” Lincoln told her. “So you should be able to fit your piece, no problem.” Clarke smiled at him, pleased. Clearly, she had already discussed it with Lincoln and made plans, so she must’ve been one of his artist friends. So, what was she doing in classes with Bellamy and his history nerds? And how did she know Monty and Jasper, who were both science majors?

Octavia watched as Clarke picked out a few supplies and a free stool and set up behind them. She was looking at their backs like she was planning something and finally, she picked up a brush and, moving between them, outlined her painting.

Clarke worked in relative silence on Monty for about twenty minutes and when she moved over to Jasper, who was right next to Octavia, she finally saw her chance.

“So, you’re an artist?” Octavia asked and seeing the indulgent look Clarke sent her, she had to fight the impulse to facepalm. Right. One cute girl and she was losing her cool, that’s great. “What I mean is, are you and arts major? Or history?” Octavia stuttered out.

“Neither, actually. I’m pre-med,” Clarke explained, dipping her brush in the paint bowl. “I’m taking Latin and art history with your brother, and a few random art classes here and there.”

Octavia’s jaw dropped. “When do you sleep?” she asked, incredulous. Clarke laughed.

“I’ll let you know when I find the time.”

“You know what kind of doctor you want to be?”

“I’m going into research, actually,” Clarke explained, not looking away from Jasper’s back. “My mom’s not too happy cause she wanted me to become a surgeon, like her, but I promised her to find a cure for cancer so she calmed down,” she said with a sour smirk.

Octavia bit her lip to stop herself from laughing. She turned back so she was facing the hall again but in the corner of her eyes, she could still see Clarke, focused on that section of her painting. Then, when Clarke looked up and at her, she averted her eyes but not quickly enough to miss the small smile on Clarke’s face.

“What about you?” the girl asked. “I think your brother mentioned you’re a junior, too, right? What do you want to do?”

Octavia froze for a second. She knew of Clarke from Bellamy’s stories about a classmate who wouldn’t stop contradicting him but if he talked to Clarke about her, they must’ve been closer than she suspected. And definitely closer than any hook-up he ever had.

“Um, yeah,” she confirmed and cleared her throat. “We both went to college at the same time, when I was finally able to convince Bellamy that we could use the money from my mom’s life insurance to pay for both of us here, instead of sending me out of state. Especially since I didn’t even know what I wanted to do.” Octavia looked down, where her feet were hidden under the hem of her gown, suddenly feeling a little ashamed. 

“I’m a business major, just to have something. I’ve taken some different classes but so far, I dunno,” she shrugged. “I guess I’m just gonna be one of those kids who graduates and never uses her degree once in the whole life,” Octavia said quietly, feeling her cheeks heat up.

She had no idea why she just said that. She’d been very pointedly avoiding this conversation with Bellamy and waved her friends off whenever they started talking about their futures. For all that she was forward and may have seemed brave, she was actually a little terrified about what would come after college.

And here she was, in the process of spilling her guts to a stranger.

“Eh, that’s okay,” Clarke said, shaking Octavia out of her thoughts. “You’re what, 22? No-one has it all figured out at 22.” She waved her brush-holding hand, sending several drops of paint around her. Octavia snorted and when Clarke noticed what she’d done, she grinned.

“You seem to know what you’re doing.”

Clarke grimaced. “Meh, I’m just a control freak and I hate not having a plan, that doesn’t mean I have any idea what I’m doing,” she announced, talking into the small of Jasper’s back. Then, she glanced at Octavia, smiling. “Besides, I’m 25. That’s ancient.”

Octavia burst out laughing, startling a couple of people she didn’t notice were standing in front of her. She schooled her expression then and tucked her chin into her neck.

Clarke, looking very pleased with herself, grinned again. “How do you think your brother and I bonded in the first place? We were both freshmen, older than anyone else in the class and we were the only two interested in the subject.”

Octavia raised her eyebrow. She wanted to ask why did Clarke wait three years before coming to school. Judging by how she was dressed, how she carried herself and the fact that she could take all the classes she ever thought of, it probably wasn’t from the lack of money. Octavia was suddenly itching to know everything about this girl and that’s what gave her pause. Never, not even with Lincoln, who was her first almost everything, had she sunk this fast. She’d never been into anyone this quickly before and frankly, it terrified her.

So, she changed the subject.

“What is it with you and my brother?” she asked, thinking it was more neutral. “He talks about you sometimes like you’re his greatest nemesis but sometimes, it’s almost like you’re friends? And you talk about families, apparently?”

Now, it was Clarke’s turn to laugh. “Oh, he loves me,” she joked with a wink. She tapped her chin with the tip of her brush thinking. “It’s like you’re a marathon runner, yeah? And you have this guy running next to you, and you’re both trying to outrun each other. Obviously, you want to win but at the same time, it’s good to have him there, cause he pushes you to push yourself.”

“A healthy competition,” Octavia supplied, making Clarke smile that she understood the metaphor.

“Yeah, exactly,” Clarke nodded. Then, she finished with Jasper and gave him a slap on the butt before leaving. The boy whooped and started to turn around, trying to see what was on his back. It made him look like a puppy, chasing his own tail. He only stopped when Monty grabbed his elbow, preventing him from getting dizzy and falling off his stool.

Octavia didn’t even notice that Clarke had moved on to her, not until he felt her hands on her hips, guiding her into a position she wanted. Octavia moved smoothly, looking ahead and trying not to think about how close Clarke was standing.

“I like to think your brother and I are friends now,” Octavia heard from between her shoulder blades and it sent a chill down her spine. “We’ve worked on too many assignments for Sydney not to be.”

There was a smile in her voice, Octavia could tell. And as happy as it made her, to hear that her brother was making friends for real, she was also a little jealous. She knew Clarke for less than an hour and she already wanted her to smile like that at the thought of Octavia.

After that, the conversation was strained. Octavia was trying very hard not to think about Clarke’s breath at the back of her neck and how it was making her warm, and that made her a poor conversationalist, she knew. And besides, Clarke spoke less, too, focused on her painting. She finished that section faster than Jasper’s, mostly because she didn’t have to readjust Octavia into a proper position so much, but the fact that they hardly talked also moved things along.

Octavia found herself strangely nervous, feeling Clarke at her back, her fingers brushing against her sides whenever Clarke needed to grab the gown. It took all she had, not to shiver every time that happened, lest Clarke thought she was trying to avoid her touch. She was so lost in her own head that when Clarke finally moved on to Lincoln, she didn’t realise that either.

By then, the conversation shifted, too. Lincoln was no longer occupied by admirers, so he and Clarke could dive into to subject of the installation. Octavia somewhat checked out then, not even trying to follow the conversation that wasn’t really meant for her in the first place.

Another half an hour passed, and Clarke was done. Octavia knew they still had another hour left to their performance, so she hoped that Clarke would hand around. Maybe afterwards, Octavia could take her to the side and ask her out for a coffee or something. Unfortunately, before she had the chance to figure out how to check if Clarke was even interested in her, the girl grabbed all her things, called out something about a lab she had to get to and disappeared into the crowd.

Octavia sighed, trying not to look too disappointed.

***

Two days later, Lincoln called Octavia and invited her to his studio, to show her how it all turned out. Octavia was out of the door in minutes, excited about more than just the artwork. At some point, she decided she was gonna ask Lincoln for—well, at least a little more info on Clarke. And now was as good a time as any to work up the courage to actually ask him.

When she got to the studio, the gowns were draped over four mannequins and placed in the same order they were standing in the main hall. Octavia smiled when she saw them, immediately recognising which was whose. But when Lincoln guided her to show her the back, she gasped—surprised and floored by the image.

When their time ended, someone took a few pictures of them and then all four of them were off to remove the gowns as carefully as possible, so that nothing got destroyed. Because of that, Octavia never had the chance to see that whole of what Clarke had painted, other than small glimpses here and there.

Now, though, she saw the painting in all her glory and it was breath-taking. A large, golden-emerald dragon flew across the four of their backs, wings spread and much as possible and breathing fire down Lincoln’s sleeve.

“Wow,” she breathed out. “That’s amazing.”

“She really is, isn’t she?” Lincoln said, sending her a knowing look.

“That’s, um, I mean—“ Octavia stuttered, blushing. She looked away and cleared her throat. “I hardly even know her,” she said, answering a question Lincoln didn’t even need to ask, it was written all over his face. “I don’t even know if she’s interested. Or into girls.”

Lincoln stood quietly for a moment. “What if I could tell you that she is? What would that mean?”

Octavia opened her mouth but nothing came out. She huffed. “Okay, fine. I like her. She is unlike anyone I’ve ever been with and I think there might be something there,” she finally admitted. “Happy?”

“Always, if you are,” Lincoln grinned at her. “And I think I can make you happy, too.”

He put his arm around Octavia’s shoulders then, and guided her closer to the gowns. She didn’t know what he was on about, until she noticed, on the shoulder blade of her gown, between the dragon’s spread talons, a string of numbers, followed by a small _C_.

“I’d say she’s very interested, yes,” Lincoln told her, one eyebrow cocked. “And she’s bi, too.”

Octavia looked back at him and took a deep breath in.

“It’s your move now,” he added before walking away, leaving her with her thoughts.

Octavia stared at the dragon but her eyes always ended up at the phone number. She clenched and unclenched her fists a couple of times, until finally, she pulled her phone, took a quick picture of the gowns and sent it to Clarke.

_Check out this cool new artist I just saw_ , she added to the message and locked her phone just as quick, not wanting to stare and look if Clarke was about to respond.

A few minutes later, though, the phone buzzed. Octavia closed her eyes for a second, before she read the response. And then, she smiled widely.

_Wow, that is pretty flipping amazing._ 😍

_Do you think you’d like to meet this artist and talk about how much you like hew work?_

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you liked this! thank you so very much for reading. comments and kudos will be welcomed like manna ;-)  
> come and find me on tumblr @[carrieeve](https://carrieeve.tumblr.com).


End file.
